FIFA's president Gianni Infantino is already under increasing pressure amid mounting opposition to plans to seek private investment in a company which would run the World Cup. Three confederations having rejected it and his senior adviser having quit over it.
One of the key concerns around the plan was the potential for private investors to seek ever bigger, ever more frequent tournaments to maximise returns.
Now it has emerged that FIFA are looking at ways for a rapid expansion. Their research brief says: "FIFA wishes to appoint an independent agency to determine whether and how expanding the FIFA World Cup from 48 to 64 participating national teams, starting with the 2030 edition, would impact on the tournament proposition."
South American confederation CONMEBOL had officially proposed hosting the 2030 World Cup with 64 teams last year, allowing more countries the opportunity to join in the celebrations for the tournament's centennial edition.
The 2026 edition in the United States, Canada and Mexico was the first since 1998 to move away from the 32-team format, adding four more groups and an extra knockout round in the process, resulting in 104 matches over more than five weeks.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said last year that expanding the World Cup to 64 teams was not a good idea.
The European governing body's position has not changed since then, while Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa had also voiced opposition.
FIFA's proposed analysis is meant to assess whether the expansion can strengthen the tournament or whether concerns such as competition dilution, calendar congestion, operational complexity and market saturation outweigh the potential benefits.
It will also estimate the revenues that could be generated from ticket sales, sponsorship and media rights under the proposed format.
"The final recommendation should demonstrate not only whether a 64-team tournament can generate incremental value, but whether that value is sustainable," the document added.
FIFA said a decision on selecting the agency would be made on August 14 and they would have only four weeks to deliver their analysis by September 11.
The 2030 World Cup is being jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain, while Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will host one match each to celebrate the tournament's 100th anniversary.
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